HOLY POOP!

Okay...Read this at your own risk....LOL

Holy Poop is right! How is it possible that something SO SMALL can create that much poop? Seriously. There are poopy diapers that literally take us 3-4 diapers. Meaning...While we are changing her already overflowing diaper...She decides to pee. Whoops ruined diaper number 2...Then you proceed with a new diaper and MORE POOP! What the heck? So not only am I gagging at the smell (which for those of you who dont know...Formula fed babies poo...NASTY! lol) I am laughing so hard that I am about to pee my pants. So yelling for Dan to help so I can go pee is even more funny. He thinks I am just trying to get out of changing the diaper but reality is I am going to wet my pants. Too much information...BUT once you have a baby your bladder is NEVER the same. If I dont run to potty I will wet my pants! Dont know what it is but pushing that baby out did something. ha ha ha ha. Well there you have it. Poop. One of joys of having a baby. Sure makes you look forward to potty training.

~Whitney

Crib Collage

I had so much fun choosing frames/colors for this funky collection. Choosing the images however was a little more difficult. I suddenly knew just how my clients feel. Its much easier for me to pick for someone else! But with a little help from Dan we picked images with the idea in mind we could always change them later. Here is a couple photos of the awesome display...

Frames...

I finally have added photos to all the random frames I have up! Both in our room and in Lily's room. The ones in Lily's room are new of course but the ones in our room have been empty for a really long time. I told Dan I just didnt have the right images yet. And now I do :) I wasnt able to take a photo today as Lily was a bit high maintenance...But I will take a couple photos and share with you guys tomorrow!

Stay tuned :)

~Whitney

1 Month...

Miss Lily is officially one month old today! And technically past her due date of May 22. Lucky I suppose that she came early or I could be having a 10 lb baby! Lily is doing great. Eat, Sleep and Poop is our motto. Time is flying by as everyone says it will and each day seems like a step forward. Night time is getting a little better as Lily is going 3 hours instead of only 2. But I am still waiting for the day of sleeping through the night. Its going to feel like a vacation! Dan has been wonderful and helping with the night shifts or at least letting me go to bed at 8 :) Love him. Lily is much cuter when I am not a grump! ha ha ha. The lack of sleep is definitely the hardest part of all this. I am thinking it passes the child birth. At least that was only temporary. Lily definitely runs the show and life is all about her. Now if I can only take a shower and remember to eat myself life would be good! I know it will get easier but now she wants my full and undivided attention.

Every post is better with a photo....Here is Lily at one month!




Until next time...

~Whitney

Lots of Photos....

Dan and I had a mini photo session with Lily yesterday and I am so happy with the images we got. It was a beautiful day in Portland and we walked to the park by our house for a few shots. Here is just a few (okay a few more than that) of my favorites. I just LOVE my little model!

Well....

I need to update the blog...But all I am is TIRED. I can only think Tired...I am Tired...All I know is Tired. Yes...that is me. A mush of Tired. It does get better soon right? I am thankful for my amazing husband who is doing his best to help as much as he can and take some of the night "shifts" so I can get some sleep.

Off to bed go....And yes its still light out...ha ha ha....

More later...

~Whitney

Sweet Daddy/Daughter Moments

Lily is already Daddy's little girl. She has Dan wrapped around her finger and she can't even talk yet. Just wait...Its only going to get worse. I always love the photos with dad's and their little girls. There is something so sweet about it and makes me all warm and fuzzy. I was looking forward to getting a few of Dan and Lily and here was our first attempt! I will take more soon....These two are gonna be my models for LIFE! HA HA!

Lily Photos...

We have been trying to take some photos of Lily but it seems I only get a few in at a time. I guess in the long scheme of things she will have a crazy amount of photos! I just need to make sure we take some so I can design a fabulous one year album for her! Here are a couple shots from today's session at home...






I will post a couple Daddy/Daughter shots tomorrow. Hopefully we will get some photos of the 3 of us as well as some with Lily and I. We might have to call in a favor for some family shots! If only I knew a photographer....ha ha ha!

~Whitney

Disappearing Posts?

I "thought" I posted about Baby Bliss...But the post seems to have gone away? What the heck? I think Blogger was having issues and decided my post needed to be re-done? Who knows. Oh well...we will just move on from here.

Miss Lily is going to be 3 weeks old tomorrow! Wow. Time really does fly. We will be taking photos of her this weekend but here is a quick shot I took yesterday...



More Soon...

~Whitney

Baby Bliss?

Well not really. Wait. What I mean is Little Lily has her nights/days mixed up. She is blissfully sleeping all day long...



But thinks its fun to keep her mom up at night...



Its a good thing she is Cute! Although I may not think that at 3am! Sorry...But I am groggy and just praying the little booger will go to sleep! I keep wondering who thought making it so babies did not sleep at night was a good idea? I mean really....Parents living with little to no sleep is not good for anyone. It tests patience and makes us addicted to coffee. Now I know it is only temporary but I think someone should re-evaluate and make it so babies sleep peacefully all night from the get go. Dont you agree? Although maybe if having babies was so easy we would all have 19? KIDDING! One is looking like PLENTY for us! LOL


Yesterday was a bit of a sad day as we had to give our little Bliss Kitty up for temporary (maybe permanent) adoption. A good friend took her in for us as Bliss REALLY wanted to snuggle with Lily. Normally that would be fine BUT Bliss is at least twice the size of Lily. The last straw was when Bliss tried to jump in the bassinet WHILE Lily was in it. I flipped and called in my favor. Mama Bear is coming out I think! I love my little kitty but I can not be stressed she is going to squish my little girl either. Sad day but I know Bliss will be well taken care of.

Here is a quick shot of Bliss attempting to snuggle with Lily before I made her MOVE! ha ha ha



We need to take some non-iphone pics! I am hoping we will get some taken this weekend so we can post some. Lily is already getting bigger and will be 3 weeks old this weekend. Having that week in the hospital is making it seem like less time. But I guess everyone is right...Time flies!

More soon!

~Whitney

1st Mother's Day

I can say I am a Mother but it still sounds foreign. I had to write it on paperwork for Lily at the Doctor's office and it felt strange. I guess this will all seem different in time but I am still in a Surreal moment. This Mother's Day little Lily should have still be cooking in my belly but she obviously had her own idea. I am thankful that she is here and I get to enjoy her on this special day. Dan asked what I wanted for Mother's Day and all I asked for was Sleep and Waffles! I am pretty easy when it comes to gifts. However Dan had given me my actual gift a little early (before we were able to take Lily home from the hospital) as he felt I deserved something then. Here is what he gave me...




Sorry not the best photo taken with my iphone but you still get the point! I LOVE IT! I had found it a long time ago and sent him an email saying I need this :) He remembered and months later he got it! What a wonderful Hubby!

I was also excited yesterday as my mailbox was full of cards! Both congrats on Lily as well as my very first Mother's Day Card from my mom!



Thanks Mom! It was such a nice surprise! I know we all send texts and emails but there is still something special about getting love in the mail isnt there? Plus its much more fun to put up cards on the fireplace!

Okay...Now I am feeling a bit guilty that my Thank You cards have not been finished. I had started working on them the friday I went into labor and I am using the "its been a bit chaotic" excuse! But I really need to get them out! They are handmade and adorable so keep your eyes out for them...

~Whitney

To Nurse...Or Not to Nurse.

Its amazing to me that those tiny little words can have such a HUGE controversy. It seems there are not too many people with the attitude do what works for you. It feels like there is such a pull on the HAVE to nurse that it makes new moms a little on edge. Dont get me wrong...I am one of those who believe nursing is better. Its obviously better for the baby, cheaper, more convenient and bonding time for mom/baby. There are many more reasons why it is a good thing. However why is it if you decide you either dont want to nurse or you are unable to or whatever your reason is that you suddenly feel like a failure? Or like you quit? Gave up? Threw in the towel? All negative thoughts. Why cant it just be....It didnt work out...I did my best....and move on? Guilt should not have to be associated with it.

You are probably guessing that I am not nursing or I probably would not be writing this post. Well you guessed right. I gave up, quit, threw in the towel, quit or whatever you want to call it. Believe it or not I went into it with a "Ill see how it goes" attitude. I wanted to nurse but I had said I wouldnt be upset if I couldnt. The circumstances with Lily's birth is really what did me in. If I could have just took my little girl home and started nursing I believe I would have made it a lot further. But having her in the NICU for a week meant...she was already getting bottles and I was pumping like crazy. I suddenly knew how poor cows feel. Sorry but pumping SUCKS...literally. And was not for me. But I did it. I started pumping the day she was born and was giving the NICU any milk I could for Lily. I even made a few attempts at nursing (with help from the lactation person at the hospital multiple times). But with Lily still weak they would not let me try to nurse every feeding as it took too much of her energy. Towards the end of her hospital stay the Doctor said we could work on nursing but that she may be there for 3-5 more days. Sorry....call me selfish but I was at the end of my rope and NEEDED to take my little girl home. I told them I would work on it as she got stronger and not spend 5 more days at the hospital. So we arrive home and I continue to pump them boobs. I made it 4 more days till I finally broke down. Dan was getting a little worried about me...but I felt like I had no control over my life. I know the little ones take part of that control but all I was doing was trying to sleep and pump. I still had to find time to eat, shower and take care of myself. Where in that did I have time to snuggle with my little girl? Or even feed her? If I wanted ANY time to get something done or rest Dan had to feed her while I pumped. I was flat out miserable. I came downstairs the last day and cried. I just couldnt do it anymore.

Dan assured me that it was okay and that Lily got the milk she really needed and she would be just fine. Once I made the decision I felt like a HUGE weight was lifted and I was a new person. No more being worried about me....I was FREE :) LOL. I know that sounds bad...but being married to a Breast Bump. Not fun. If I could have been just nursing and pumping as needed that may have even helped. Still there is a little bit of guilt that hangs on that is brought on by those that surround us. Luckily for me I have had a supportive mom (who did not nurse), friends who also didnt and a pediatrician who did NOT make me feel guilty. I thank them all for their support and if anyone is feeling guilt for NOT nursing come see me :) We should not feel like we are quitters or giving up. We should be able to do the best we can and do what works for YOU and YOUR family. Period. I now get to enjoy my little girl and Dan gets to help with the feedings. Both get that bonding time with her now.

Thats my vent. All is well in the Harlacher Household. Whitney is BACK :) LOL

Thanks for listening (reading)...

~Whitney

Baby Pool Winner!

I know everyone was WAY off on the birthdate of Miss Lily but thank goodness that means the rest of her stats determined the winner.

Lily Rose Harlacher
Born 4/23/11
@ 7:13am
6lbs 4oz
19.5 inches

The person with the least amount of points is in the winner....

In 3rd place with 21.808 Points
Courtney S.

In 2nd Place with 21.654 Points
Dave H.

And the winner is....

Dawn S!
with 21.027 points

New Ipod for Dawn! Congrats on your win and thanks everyone for playing!

~Whitney

More Rewind/Recap....

Day5/6/7: Tues, Wed, Thur

All I can really say about these days is back and forth to the hospital and SO EXHAUSTED. Lily was still in the NICU and we were just waiting for those oxygen levels to get better. The doctor continued to decrease the amount she was needing and each day seemed like a feat in itself. I can not tell you how glued we were to her monitors to make sure her levels stayed in the 90's. Poor Dan wanted to buy a machine for home as we were so nervous about her breathing. Luckily we were assured she would not come home until they were confident she was fine. Here is a pic of the monitor...its the bottom number we were worried about and I think we were cheering when she would reach 100!




During this time Lily also developed Jaundice. I was not too scared at this point as I knew what it was and was a bit relieved that she was getting it taken care of while she was in the hospital. I know people who have had to bring their babies back for it. So instead of stressing over it we found the humor in calling her our little glow worm...



We were also a little amused by her little eye mask. The nurse decided to give her some eyelashes and we were cracking up. It was just to keep the light from the bili blanket out of her eyes...



Thursday around noon (about 5 minutes before I arrived) the tubes were removed! I was so happy. Lily kept trying to pull them out of her nose and I was told that once the nurse got one side off and out Lily ripped the other one off. She REALLY didnt like it. Here is my little girl tubeless...




Once the tubes were removed we were put on the wait list for a private room. At 10pm on thursday night we were moved to a private NICU room where they take babies who are almost ready to go home. This also meant that Dan and I could stay overnight with her. So thursday night we had our first all nighter with Miss Lily. Dan and I became her parents and had ZERO help from the nurses. I figured if we could survive a night in the hospital with horrible chair cot thingys and alarms going off we could survive anything. Here is a pic of the room with my cozy bed :) ha ha



I felt horrible that Dan had to sleep on it but my mom did give him a nice break the beginning of our hospital stay so I guess a couple days was not going to kill him.

Once we moved into our private room I knew it would be any day that we would be able to take Lily home. It had already been a rough week but I think by the time we hit this point I was done. I needed to bring her home. Of course we got a new doctor once we moved and it felt like we were starting over. I was hoping like crazy Friday would be the day we could take her home but no luck. I will say I am thankful Lily had a relatively short stay in the NICU. I know it could have been so much worse but any amount of time spent there is still tough on anyone.


Day 8/9: Friday/Saturday

Friday was a long day spent hanging out with Lily. We made sure either Dan, Me or my Mom was with her at all times. Which meant we took turns running to get food or anything else we needed. I know the nurse was there to help but there was no way I would leave her alone. At this point I felt the whole responsibility and knew that we would need to take care of her once she was home anyway. Doctor checked on her friday and said no way going home. All I can say is if it was not a Sat homecoming I was going to lose it. It had already been hard enough and I could not handle one more day of living at the hospital. When the doctor came in to check on her on Sat am she asked us "How we were feeling?" I just looked at Dan as the tears came. I couldnt even answer her. My mom had said to make sure I didnt act like it was all about me wanting to get out of there but I know that was a lot of it. I could not handle the stress anymore and just needed to be able to go home and take care of Lily. I was afraid to do anything in the hospital and honestly...I really needed a shower! LOL. Just kidding. Feeding was a struggle and they were very strict on when Lily ate and how much. So my stress was so bad I could barely feed her that last morning. If she didnt do good we were going to be stuck another night. I know Lily probably felt my stress I know everyone else could. The doctor admitted that keeping us there another night was not going to help anyone. Lily was doing so much better and if we had any problems we could call. THANK GOODNESS! My little girl was able to come home! I felt like we were breaking out of Jail as we quickly loaded up all our stuff and ran away. Bye Bye hospital hope its forever before I have to visit again.

HOME! We made it! If you finished all this that is the last weeks recap. Now its just home time and fun posts. Stay tuned next for baby pool results. Dont worry there is still a winner even though EVERYONE was way off on the date!

~Whitney

Rewind 10 Days...

Wow...Where to even begin. It has been such a whirlwind these last 10 days that I cant even remember what day it is. All I can say is I am so thankful to be home and I know that we will get in the swing of things soon. This can only get easier right?

I know many of you have been waiting to hear my side of the eventful week so I am going to do my best to recap it for you guys. Thank you to Dan for giving updates while I was in the hospital! That was a Huge Help :)

Day 1: Friday, April 22, 2011

What a great day. I spent the morning at my friend Ali's classroom hanging with a bunch of 5 year olds and taking adorable photos of them. Then I headed to the studio for a maternity sales session with a client of mine who is having twin boys. Evening ended with a nice walk with Dan around the neighborhood a yummy dinner and then we were planning on watching a movie. Looking back it was a pretty hectic day as I had been only doing about one big activity a day or I would be too tired. Thinking I might have over did it a bit? Hmmm. Also this weekend was going to be our "pack the bag" and "figure out where we go at the hospital" and any other things we needed we were going to take care of. My 36 week appointment was supposed to be Monday and I will admit I was very nervous for it (ironic now). I guess Lily had other ideas for us...Like pack your bag in 5 minutes...Its time to go to hospital! ha ha! Dan and I had went upstairs to put some cozy pj's on for our movie night when my water broke. It was about 9pm. At this point I had zero contractions just my water broke. I started freaking out a bit but Dan kept his cool while he called the Dr. Thankfully my wonderful Dr Barrett was on-call for the weekend. I was so nervous about not getting her and was so relieved she would be there. Dr Barrett told us to head to the hospital....Dan got everything together (umm...my water was leaking so I wasnt much help at this point. oops. Luckily Dan is amazing!) On the way to the hospital I was pretty much in shock. There was no way I was being sent home without a baby....SO SCARY! I was also nervous at how early we were (4 weeks). I know babies can be fine even earlier than that but you still worry.

Hospital....

We checked into the hospital about 10pm friday night. I have no idea if I was dilated yet and they wouldnt check since my water had broke. But they got us in and all hooked up to the fancy crap (sorry...was not thrilled) and started monitoring my contractions. I kept asking how long it was all gonna take and I know no one actually knows but I still kept asking! ha ha. They offered me a sleeping pill which I declined (thank goodness). How they heck they thought I would sleep who knows? Dan was able to get a little...there was not a chance I would have slept with our without the sleeping pill. About 3am my Doctor checked in and I was dilated at 4. She suggested getting the epidural then if I was going to have one. As much as I did not want it my contractions were hurting so bad and were pretty much on top of each other that I broke down and said okay. After several attempts at placing the epidural who knows what happened. IT DID NOT WORK! Even a different person came in to try and add more meds...Ummm....I FELT EVERYTHING. Wow. Thats all I will say. Thankfully my labor progressed super fast. There was one point when my nurse said I just "checked" you (dilated at 5 at that point) and there was no way I was at 10. Well...I proved her wrong. Was at 10 and was already trying to push. I needed to get that thing OUT! It was HURTING! ha ha ha ha!

Day 2: Saturday April 23, 2011

7:13am Lily arrives. 61bs 4 oz 19.5 inches long. Dan says I was a trooper. I dont remember much other than needing ice chips like crazy, squeezing his hand to death, Pain and closing my eyes. I just wanted it to be OVER. I had a little bit of a scare as they could not get my bleeding under control. Thankfully my doctor stayed calm so I didnt worry but Dan was scared (he tells me after the fact). She worked her magic and got me taken care of. Then the next thing I know my daughter is being taken away from me. I sent Dan with her and once I was all stitched up it hit me. I called my mom (who was at the airport and on her way) crying as I didnt know what was happening. It all happened way to fast.

Dan returned with the news that Lily's oxygen saturation levels were low and she needed to be hooked up to oxygen. Luckily it was not a c-pap (I think that is what they call it?) but just regular oxygen..not forced. This was the ONLY thing that was wrong with her....however it meant that she was going to have to stay in the NICU until she could keep those levels up. Until someone has had a child in the NICU you can not even begin to understand how it feels. I can only say I am so thankful she had such a short stay compared to a lot of babies who have to have a visit to the NICU.

The moved us to a different room after the birth and on the way we stopped at the NICU so I could actually hold my little girl for the first time. I cried. Seeing her hooked up with tubes was really hard. They also had to put an IV in her that made me upset. I know it was all to make her better but no one likes to see that happening.


Day 3/4: Sunday/Monday

A blur. Well I guess the rest of the week was pretty much a blur as well but these two days were pretty bad. I was of course in the hospital and was not discharged until Monday afternoon. I was trying to recover but still see Lily whenever I could. The NICU is not just down the hall from where I was. Instead it was quite the adventure to go visit. I had to be escorted in a wheelchair...take two different elevators and finally arrive at NICU. I think this was one of my most frustrating parts of the experience. I also hated leaving her but "sitting" all day in NICU was not helping me heal either. I was pretty miserable. My mom stayed with me in the hospital which I am so thankful for. I did not want to be alone and the sleeping "cot" for my guest was not fun. Dan would have stayed but he was pretty thankful to go home and get to sleep in our bed. Mom saved the day :) Having visitors was quite the challenge as well. I felt bad but there was no cell phones in NICU and that is where I was spending most of my time. Then IF someone wanted to see her we could only have 3 total people in their at a time. Which meant my mom or Dan had to leave. We finally got to the point where we just told our visitors to wait till we got home. This was obviously not the experience I was hoping for but it was the experience we were given.

Monday was the most heartbreaking day of my life. Having to leave the hospital without my little girl was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I was thankful for a shower and my bed but that was about it. Oh and I guess I was thankful that Lily was being watched over 24/7 so I knew she was at least in good hands. Didnt change how I felt about leaving her there but I tried to think of the positive.



This post is feeling very long and overwhelming. Not sure how many of you will actually read through the whole post :) So I am going to stop here and will continue the rest of the story soon so check back.....

~Whitney

HOME.

There are no words to describe HOME. The relief and joy we felt Saturday as we were finally released and able to take our little girl home was incredible. Dan has been hounding me to get this blog updated with all the week events and I will start on that this week since we are finally home. It was a very eventful week and I know many of you are waiting to hear the details. Hang in there with me and I will give you all a good rewind/recap of the last week.

Until then here is one shot of Miss Lily right before we checked out of the hospital...